Clear Rights Early: Early Is Investment, Late Is Loss
Last lesson named the six weapons; this one is about when to move. The answer is short: the earlier the better. Rights clearance has a cruel trait—the same action costs a few hundred yuan early, and tens of thousands plus a year or two late.
So clear rights before the asset exists, or at the same time—not after the product takes off and someone starts grabbing. These moves aren’t just compliance; they’re the foundation of your commercial moat.
Same product, two approaches. Left clears rights before each node; right runs the business first and patches later. Hit “Next” through six nodes and watch how the right-side cost snowballs.
For product builders, these three are the most common—and the most often ignored.
Brand name: trademark + domain name.Before the first line of code, search candidate names on the China Trademark Website—near misses, reversals, and add-a-character variants too. Search is free; half an hour of work.
Code: software copyright registration + repo access control.Register once you have a runnable build. Don’t wait until the product is hot—the registration date itself is part of the evidence.
Original content: normalize copyright recordation.Core articles, design comps, video—do copyright recordation or a trusted timestamp before publish. Patching after a copy breaks the evidence chain.
Name taken: a year at minimum
Lesson 4 of this course covers our own story: a prior trademark blocked the name; recovering it via three-year non-use cancellation plus review of refusal took two years end to end. That was lucky—the other side wasn’t actually using it. If they were, you’d rename or buy.
Solution disclosed first: gone forever
Patents hit hardest. Product launch, trade shows, demo videos—all burn novelty of the technical solution. Disclose first, file later, and the patent is likely refused—with no remedy. The only irreversible loss among the six weapons.
Copied with no evidence: you can’t win
Copyright arises automatically, but litigation needs proof of creation time and ownership. No recordation, no timestamp—the other side can claim you copied them, and the fight can drag until you quit.
Contrast: the early price
A few hundred yuan per trademark class, cheap software copyright registration, even cheaper copyright recordation, domains from tens to a few hundred yuan a year. The full set usually costs less than a fraction of one enforcement lawyer bill.
- Naming day = trademark search day + domain registration day. Do all three the same day.
- Release day = software copyright materials archive day. Keep a submittable code+docs pack for every major version.
- Content publish day = recordation day. Bake recordation into the publish SOP—not “when you remember.”
Clear early—but that doesn’t mean register everything. A one-person company’s money has to hit the sharp edge.
- Ideas still in validation: search first, grab domains; file trademarks once the direction is set.
- No real technical solution—don’t pad patents just to “look serious.”
- One test: would losing this asset hurt? If yes, lock now; if not, leave it.
Rights go to whoever moves first. Prior trademark registration wins, first-to-file patents win, domains are first come, first served.
Clear rights before the asset exists, or at the same time. Search trademarks and grab domains on naming day; archive software copyright materials on release day; do recordation on publish day.
Loss of patent novelty is irreversible. Disclose first, file later—you hand the solution into the public domain yourself.
Early cost is a fraction of late cost. Full rights clearance usually costs under a tenth of one enforcement fight.
Basis: Prior trademark filing rules—Trademark Law (2019 Amendment), Articles 30 and 31; patent first-to-file and novelty—Patent Law (2020 Amendment), Articles 9 and 22; copyright arises automatically—Copyright Law (2020 Amendment) and Regulations on Computer Software Protection (2013 Revision), Article 14. Lesson verified 2026-08-10. Details of the three-year non-use cancellation case are in Lesson 4 of this course.